Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Angel

Finally we learn a little bit more about the mysterious Angel.  Which brings me to an important point: Angel.

*sigh*

Who among us did not have a crush on David Boreanaz in the late 1990s?  Hell, I was 10 and I thought he was dreamy.

The Master is all kinds of pissed off that Buffy and her wily companions have eluded horrible deaths and continue to sabotage his plans.  He decides to put a hit out on her, in the form of a vampiric trio of...well, hitmen.

Buffy and Angel manage to escape the vampires, and seek sanctuary...in Buffy's bedroom.

No, they actually have a remarkably chaste sleepover.  Until the next day, when they finally kiss, and Angel shows her his game face.  OMG, Angel's a vampire...that means that there is a stalky vampire out there in love with a high school girl that I don't want to chop into tiny tiny bits.  Suck on that, Stephenie Meyer!

So now Buffy's all conflicted and has feelings and now she doesn't know what to do.  The Master seizes the opportunity to screw around with her life a little bit more by having Darla bite Joyce and framing Angel.  Slick.  Buffy, to her credit, is willing to put her emotions and personal attachments aside so that she can take out Angel.  I feel like this will become a theme with her and her romantic life.

Fortunately, it doesn't come to that.  The truth will out, as they say, and Angel stakes Darla.  So now he and Buffy can develop an uneasy, somewhat standoffish relationship with frustrating amounts of sexual tension.  Yay!


Things I Like:

Well, I approve of David Boreanaz's performance as Angel.  We've seen in various other vampire stories that the whole "not evil, broody, mooning over girl" vampire character is difficult to pull off without making me want to knock out every one of your pointy teeth.  That is to say, these roles have a tendency to come off as cloying and a little bit pathetic.  I think that Angel manages to avoid crossing the line into annoying puppy dog territory.  For now, anyway.  And I think it's a stroke of brilliance that as a vampire, getting his soul and conscience back is a punishment.  There's nothing more cheap than trying to sell your de-fanged vampire character's refusal to eat people as a lifestyle choice.

I love the Master's fatherly mentoring of the Anointed One.  It's sweet in a completely horrible and screwed up kind of way.

Also, ladies and gentlemen, I present US History, by Buffy Summers.  "Reconstruction began after the construction which was shoddy so they had to reconstruct."  As a history buff, I LOLed at that one.


Things I Didn't Like:

Ugh, can Xander please stop with the judginess?  Yes, you don't like Angel, yes, you have a crush on Buffy, you've registered your complaints, can we all please move on now??

It's pretty tacky when Darla busts out a couple of handguns.  I mean, come on.  Vampires with guns?  This isn't Blade, Joss.


Verdict: 7 Stakes out of 10